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Development and progress, in contemporary understanding, is perceived to entail movement— largely physical, but sometimes also metaphorical. Movement denotes change, usually presumed to be positive and progressive. Thus, it might not be entirely coincidental that the development trajectory of communities with a record of progress

The Northeast Indian state of Assam has a very long and complex history of migration, whether it be Santhals from the Chhotanagpur plateau to work in the tea plantations under the British administration, the Marwaris from Rajasthan for trade, or the Bengalis from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, as farm hands or agricultural labourers and farmers.

Since centuries, women in Bhojpuri-speaking peasant society of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh have been experiencing out-migration of their men. The process of labour out-migration, in Bhojpuri peasant society, marks a creative peak in the history of oral cultural productions (especially folksongs).1 Bhojpuri society is so deeply

The question of belonging to a ‘place’ is often recognised as being associated with the idea of ‘home’. But it is necessary to understand which lens we are using to form ideas of ‘home’ and belongingness. ‘Place’ has elements of physical boundaries as well as spatial aspect to it, but it is not solely circumscribed by territorial dimensions

Increasing globalisation, urbanisation, industrialisation and technological development have resulted in diversity of migration patterns, which in turn have led to heterogeneity among people, languages and cultures in any given area. Culture comprises people’s thought, patterns of behaviour, lifestyle, values, beliefs, language and food habits.

Fifteenth-century saint Guru Ravidas, who belonged to the ‘untouchable’ Chamar caste, was the first to formulate an Indian version of utopia in his song ‘Begumpura’ (Omvedt 2008, 106–107). Interestingly, he does not dream of a village that is caste-free, he dreams of a city; to him, the city is the hope of a caste-free space.